Almighty Dad | A stay at home dad blog

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10 Awesome Gift Ideas for Dad

Yesterday I wrote a list of 10 gifts for kids.  Today it’s dad’s turn.  Dads can be a frustrated lot; they don’t like to talk much and they feel ashamed sometimes for wanting things.  The result of bad communication is that they rarely get what they really want.  Every Christmas you’ll see dad in a corner muttering to himself about the pile of socks, ties, useless golf gadgets and other equally stupid stuff piled at his feet while everyone else plays with their toys.  He doesn’t complain.  He just sighs and throws all the stuff in the closet and waits for next year.  Well, this list of 10 gift ideas for dad is a look into a man’s mind that is hard to find elsewhere.

 

Red Shirt Cologne

Red Shirt is just one of several scents in this line.  There is also a Tiberius and Kahn and a few others.  Don’t get dad the usual stuff.  At the very least you should amuse him!

 

 

Backyard Ballistics

This is pretty self explanatory.  It’s a book about making stuff go boom in your backyard.  Men love that sort of stuff, but most of us, even though we want to shoot a potato, don’t know how to make the potato gun.  Problem solved.

 

 

Leatherman Wave

Every man wants a multi-tool.  I’ve wanted one for a long time, but it’s one of those items that I can always put off because of more pressing needs.  I’d venture almost all dads want one, but they just keep finding excuses to spend their money elsewhere.  Buy it for him as a gift and he won’t have to feel guilty.

 

 

Portable Pull-up Bar

Men don’t like to say it, but they all wish they could do pull-ups.  Look at it this way.  Dads at the park with their kids stay off the equipment for a reason.  They don’t want to fall off the monkey bars and look like the old fart they think they are.  Pull-ups give men the confidence that they can’t get with dumbbells or push-ups.  Trust me, if there is one piece of exercise equipment in your house it should be a pull-up bar.  This particular one can hold several hundred pounds and is completely portable.  It was designed for Trapeze artists.

 

 

How Many Licks?: Or, How to Estimate Damn Near Anything

Men love parlor tricks.  That’s all that needs to be said there.

 

 

Weather Station

I happen to own the weather station in the picture.  I got it for a gift last year and it’s been of wonderful use.  It’s one of those daily use items that you only appreciate when you stop to think about it.  You put the sensor outside the house and it sends all that information to the nice little display (we have ours in the kitchen).  It’ll even tell you what kinds of cloths to wear for the weather (which isn’t necessary but it’s fun anyway).

 

 

Flying Lessons

For at least the last 15 years I’ve wanted to take flying lessons.  I suspect most men are the same.  It’s expensive, but if you’re looking for a unique gift that is almost sure to hit the spot — this is it.  What other guy get’s flying lessons for a present?  Yeah, thought so.

 

 

Root: Authentic Root Beer

Root Beer wasn’t always non-alcoholic and it wasn’t always called Root Beer.  It used to be Root Tea (that’s interesting).  The origins of root beer (root tea) come from the North Eastern Native American tribes who made it as an elixir before any Europeans ever showed up.  Long story short, prohibition made people start making it non-alcoholic and some guy renamed root tea to root beer (weird).  After prohibition it became nothing more than another fizzy drink with artificial flavors.  Well, this company has put the alcohol back in and has re-concocted an original recipe.  Buy this stuff and dad will feel educated and happy.  Plus all his friends will be jealous.  Yup, all that adds up to a perfect gift for dad.

 

 

Flip Video Camera

These things are awesome.  This little camera is how I take all the videos for my YouTube Channel and for this blog.  It’s smaller than most digital cameras, it has 60 minutes of record time and the new model is rechargeable.  If you’re a family that has a video camera that never gets used because it’s too inconvenient to lug around, this is the solution.  It is actually a whole family present, but dad will like it because it’s inexpensive and extremely useful.

 

 

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

I have been waiting for this game for a very long time.  Game Informer gave it a 9.75 out of 10 rating and it’s the current hottest game on the market.  Dad doesn’t like video games?  He will after he plunks down in front of this.

 

 

BONUS: Xbox 360 or PS3 (So You Can Play Call of Duty!)

I don’t think dads and husbands really like to admit it because of the stigma attached, but if they grew up in the 80′s then the chances are that they like video games, or would like them if reintroduced to them.  Dads don’t like to look lazy in front of their families, but the truth is that they are probably itching to spend a few hours playing video games.  I had forgotten how much I loved video games before I got a Wii and an Xbox.  The trick is to get dad feeling comfortable about who he is deep down inside.  He wears a lot of masks that he’d rather not — video games will bring out the kid in him.